South Korea said on Monday (August 24, 2026) that the United State s had cancelled a large joint amphibious landing exercise scheduled for next month due to constraints on force availability caused by the war with Iran .
President Donald Trump’s order last week to scale down the separate annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises, cutting the joint drills from 11 days to five. Trump’s first term, but Pyongyang accelerated its nuclear programmes after their second 2019 summit in Hanoi collapsed without an agreement on North Korea’s denuclearisation. The cancellation follows U.S. Mr. The U.S. Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim met three times during Mr.
Trump at the time cited their high cost and said they sent an “inappropriate and hostile” signal to North Korea, while highlighting his relationship with its leader, Kim Jong Un. Seoul and Washington were continuing consultations on resuming the amphibious exercise, he said, without giving details. President said Wednesday (August 19, 2026) that it was important to “get along” with Mr. Kim, adding that Pyongyang now had 57 “very powerful” nuclear weapons.
